A little over two moths ago I stumbled across one of the most heart wrenching blogs I ever saw. It was written by the parents of a little girl who had been diagnosed with a very difficult disease and updated almost every day as her condition changed drastically. The warmth, positivity and amazingly upbeat attitude her parent's maintained while telling the world of their little girl's struggle resonated with me, and with a lot of people I know. I didn't know her, although I knew of her mother through mutual friends. The humor they infused throughout their posts as they told us each time their angel improved or sadly deteriorated a tiny bit was something I started looking forward to in my day. I checked a few times a day for my updates, getting very excited when they reported amazing news and feeling great sadness whenever there was a downgrade.
It might not make any sense, but I drew strength from this, from Ayelet's struggle, as did countless other strangers across the internet. In my head I knew if a little girl whom I had never met could work this hard at just living, surely a grown woman could get the easy stuff in life done without much effort. I woke up this morning and read the news, that sweet little Ayelet has moved on from this world. I don't have many more words than what I just wrote, but I would like to add my heartfelt condolences to her family, her friends, and the many people who became a part of Ayelet Nation. Hindy and Seth (I feel like I know you) you are the most amazing people, sharing your story so openly and having the most incredible attitudes throughout your journey. If our paths ever cross, I hope I can return a tenth of what I feel you have given to me and countless others. BD'E Ayelet Yakira Galena.
With unstoppable tears and broken hearts we regret to announce that last night around 5AM, after hours of fighting and holding on, our precious Ayelet - the heart of our world, the light and strength for so many, could not fight any more.
She is gone.
She put up a serious fight, but her lungs collapsed, her blood pressure dropped and the blood could not get to her huge heart.
Baruch Dayan Emes. Her life, her strength, a blessing to so many.
Last night was amazing. Last minute I got together with a friend and we went to watch some fantastic live music. There was an incredible series of random events culminating in a an epic crash (literally) which inspired me to write it all down so I wouldn't forget any of it. Here goes...
So I get to her house and we take AGES talking and catching up before we even start heading for the door. I joked at the time that it wasn't like we were going to be late or anything (music started after midnight and it was around 11:40). We get in my car and drive the few blocks to the venue, and started looking for free parking.
Now, I am the first person to valet, or use or a lot. There's something to be said for pulling up, getting out, and going in. It's my preference- BUT the last time we were at this venue, I noticed there were TONS of meters up and down the street and for some reason that was unclear at the time no one was using them. This time we read the signs and I realized the meters had notices that they were tow away zones specifically Thursday and Friday night. There were a few more meters directly across the street from the venue that weren't tow away BUT they were reserved for the valets and we even had a brief conversation with someone who decided to park there anyway without valeting his car. In the end we actually found a tiny parking lot up the street and parked for free. As we got out of the car, next to a black SUV, my friend saw a sad lonely shoe. Just one. All by itself next to the SUV. Further down the street as we were walking in, we saw a second shoe. Not it's mate, but still sad. The shoes are not really relevant but I had to include them.
So we enter the venue, are enjoying mingling and picking up the vibe of the place, and my chimney self decides to go out for a cigarette before the live music starts. My friend is talking to some people she knows so I say I'll be right back. As I'm standing outside in a small group of people, I hear an awful screeching to my right and I look up- this beat up black SUV comes TEARING out of the parking lot, sideswipes three or four cars on the right side of the street and over corrects and heads RIGHT AT US. It occurred to me at that moment that he might actually hit us, but there was no time to react... then someone yells out 'get the license plate' and the guy TAKES OFF and floors it running the red light on the corner (a SUPER busy Hollywood intersection) where he slams into some more cars on the left side of the road and finally smashes into a light pole on the right side, knocking it over onto the building it is in front of.
I am completely fine. As far as I can tell no one besides the driver was injured (lots of smoke and he's too far away to really see but no one is moving). Crowds of people start gathering and it's very dramatic and then sirens.... but here's the part that gets me. The first few cars he sideswiped, the ones across the street from where I was standing- those were the exact metered spots we had been discussing parking at an hour earlier. Talk about fate. I also do not know if that beat up SUV that was parked next to me was the same one that crashed.
Turns out someone else got a video of the final stop the car made-
On a totally other note, one of the cars he hit actually ended up belonging to the girlfriend of one of the performers and she was the coolest chic on earth when she came out later and saw it. Props to her for keeping it cool and having a great attitude about it.
Mkay... here's the deal. I hate drinking water. It tastes blah, it makes me feel thirstier somehow, and just basically is not my thing. On the flip side, I am aware of what it takes to stay healthy and staying hydrated is definitely something that goes along with that. For a very long time I was completely obsessed with Propel Lemonade Water (IN THE SPORT BOTTLE NOT THE REDONE CRUMMY REGULAR ONES) but they changed the formula and now it doesn't taste the same... so I went back to my fail safe, Vitamin Water (usually Lemonade although sometimes they have random cool flavors, just hate the purple grapey one).
Which brings me to an awesomely random discovery I made yesterday in Target. I have had a crazy fever for two days now and in an attempt to get some food in me, I finagled my way into some clothes and eeked into the Target across the street (thank you Target for being located across the street, you have no idea). I bought a giant size Arizona Sweet Tea, a few Vitamin Waters... and then out of the corner of my eye I noticed these tiny little bottles.
They are about the size of a lemon. I got the sweet tea (big surprise right) and was pumped to get back into my bed in my fever induced delerium and drink some water. For anyone who knows me, that in and of itself is an indication of just how out of it I am!
The point of the product is that you can flavor it as much as you want. It recommends one squeeze for each 8 oz serving- so a regular water bottle is about 16.9 oz... two squirts. Warning- stuff shoots out FAST- but after the first squeeze I was more careful and then I tasted my MiO water... HUGE FAN. I am absolutely going to start carrying these around in my car and my purse. I think it cost $3.50 and each bottle should make approx 24 servings... cheaper than vitamin water or gatorade by far!
My only wish? I want them to make a minty lemon flavor. Or strawberry banana.
I stumbled across a great blog when I was looking for any negative reviews about the product- this person does a great in depth review and I am posting their link here for you to read as well. They also have a video! MiO also has it's own Facebook pageWebsiteTwitterand YouTube
Now back to my sweet tea MiO water, Nutella and green jello cups. Thanks again Target!
Tonight I had a great time at the newly redone Greystone Manor for Tony Daly's birthday party. It looks completely different from how it used to be and between the different levels with all the different tables it is a great venue for performances... which is what we saw. Soulja Boy performed with a huge entourage, and Sean Kingston was right there with him and so was Chris Brown. After the performance, which was much longer than the little bit that I recorded, the whole crew came over to a table right in front of me and they were great- posing for pictures with people and talking to everyone...very cool for them to do that and not have security keep everyone away.There was a girl dancing above our heads, hanging on a hoop from the ceiling, there were girls above the main wall dancing on a glass floor so when you walked behind the DJ booth you look up and see them, and girls dancing in little cages- all very chic and pretty. There are two bars, one on either side of the massive room, and a pretty nice size patio for all the smokers (complete with heat lamps, thank you!) Another nicely done club from SBE. I don't have to try to write a better review than the one the LA Times did- you can read it here.
BUT... they don't have this video :)
Wow. That's the first thing I thought when I heard Chloe Leighton sing. It's not just anyone that can get up and do an Amy Winehouse cover! She is gorgeous, talented, a real performer- and as it just so happens it was her birthday too so we were all there to celebrate and watch her sing. Check out the video and keep an eye on this girl- she's definitely got something! Check out the video and here www.chloeofficial.com
